Android & Chill
One of many net’s longest-running tech columns, Android & Chill is your Saturday dialogue of Android, Google, and all issues tech.
Hey! Would you like a telephone that prices an excessive amount of, has a sub-par digicam, a tiny battery, and is not as sturdy? In that case, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is your dream telephone.
This telephone is a certifiable 100% bona fide flop. Samsung made too many compromises as a result of somebody on the firm determined that individuals wished a skinny telephone and have been keen to spend a complete lot of cash on it. It virtually seems like a script for a comedy.
Sadly, it isn’t. It is one other instance of Samsung testing the waters to see what we may be satisfied we would like, besides this time it failed. However that is okay; Samsung can afford to fail.
The telephone apparently is not promoting very nicely, however that is not shocking. Samsung going forward with the concept, although it is kinda dumb, is not shocking both. The corporate does this form of factor and has been profitable prior to now. You solely actually know if an concept is worth it after you attempt it.
Samsung’s willingness to do dumb shit introduced us the Galaxy Be aware. Should you like utilizing your Apple Pencil, it’s essential to thank Samsung for reminding us that there are occasions when your finger simply will not minimize it. When the primary Galaxy Be aware launched, it was a flop too. T-Cellular really canceled its model after it was introduced and despatched to reviewers — I do know as a result of they despatched me one. Making an enormous ass telephone with a stylus sounded silly on the time.
No person is saying that at present; the Galaxy Be aware has developed into the finest telephone Samsung has ever made. Combat me. The corporate goes to do the identical with book-style foldables and has already generated virtually all of the curiosity there may be for them, just by saying “YOLO” and doing it. I find it irresistible when Samsung does that, and I hope they by no means cease. Giving us 10 dangerous concepts is price it when that good one hits.
That is why the corporate determined telephones wanted to be thinner. Someplace down the road, they are going to have perfected a solution to do it with out all the mandatory drawbacks of at present’s tech. My opinion? Forcing a design to be this skinny means battery tech needs to be improved. A flop of a skinny telephone is the 1st step to having a battery that is smaller, safer, and lasts longer.
Having stated all of this — and I actually do imply all of it, I perceive why this telephone was constructed — let’s check out what we really bought: a telephone no person was asking for and no person can purchase.
It is skinny. I do not assume it is the thinnest telephone ever, however you’ll be able to’t deny that it is thinner than the rest you should purchase at present (excluding foldables). Nevertheless, it is skinny on the expense of different options that make a telephone good.
I predicted this final January once I stated making a telephone very skinny utilizing at present’s tech would imply it’s essential to sacrifice battery life. I used to be barely off; you additionally sacrificed digicam high quality, efficiency, and sturdiness. However principally the battery.
Proper now, the batteries are model new, and also you hear folks say they virtually final all day or will final all day for those who handle it appropriately. In 90 days, it will likely be “I can get by topping it off at time for supper,” and in 180 days, folks might want to cost it much more typically. That is how batteries work; the extra you employ them, the much less you can use them.
As somebody who used a Pixel 4 for a 12 months, let me inform you that it solely will get worse from right here. A smartphone is ineffective with none fuel within the tank.
Surprisingly, that is not sufficient to kill a telephone at launch. Individuals will need it as a result of it is skinny and may get by utilizing a cable and a charger. What killed the S25 Edge was its $1,000+ asking value.
Samsung can fake that they did not compromise to make a telephone this skinny, however even the folks saying that know the reality. This can be a prototype of the following large concept, and the one approach for it to get higher is to construct it and work by all of it. If it sticks round, we’d love what it turns into.
